Loss to the Devils Is a Hellish Start

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Mighty Ducks started their tour against potential Stanley Cup champions, a.k.a. Death March ‘98, against the best of the best Wednesday at Continental Airlines Arena.

It was far from a smashing success.

Two failed Teemu Selanne breakaways, a critical defensive breakdown and lackluster play with a two-man advantage to start the third period undermined the Ducks’ hopes in a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils before a sellout crowd of 19,040.

Next: the Philadelphia Flyers, another well-rounded Atlantic Division team with Stanley Cup aspirations, tonight in Game 2 of this seven-game, cross-continent trip.

Wednesday’s loss was simply another strike against the last-place Ducks, who cling to the almost absurd notion they can rally to make the Western Conference playoffs.

“Obviously, this is very frustrating right now for us,” Selanne said. “If we are playing well and winning games and not making the playoffs it’s not so bad. I’m not saying we’ve given up. [But] this is the road trip that will make the difference.”

The odds grew longer still after their ineffective showing against the Devils, a performance that had little in common with Sunday’s aggressive 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

To be sure, New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur played a major role in making the Ducks look bad. He stopped all 25 shots he faced, including Selanne’s second-period breakaways.

The Ducks were withing striking distance, trailing only 1-0 when Selanne twice zoomed toward the net ahead of the Devils. But Selanne, the NHL’s leader with 43 goals, got nothing past Brodeur.

“The first time, the puck was rolling,” Selanne explained after the Ducks were shut out for the 11th time this season. “The second time, I got a good shot and got the rebound back. I had an empty net, but didn’t get a shot off.”

Players on both teams said the ice conditions were terrible, but Selanne believed that was a lame excuse.

“That’s not the reason why we lost,” he said.

Selanne also had the last of the Ducks’ 25 shots as the final seconds ticked off, but Brodeur turned aside his blast from the right wing to secure his eighth shutout this season.

“No question, he’s one of the best goalies in the league,” Selanne said of Brodeur. “I’d put him second behind Dominik Hasek [of the Buffalo Sabres].”

Coach Pierre Page found little to fault Wednesday, although the Ducks lost their ninth in 11 games since the Olympic break last month. He praised the Devils instead.

“I give them a lot of credit,” Page said. “They play so patient it’s unbelievable. I can’t remember an NHL team being that patient. And Brodeur was up to the task.”

Not that there was much for Brodeur to worry about other than Selanne’s six shots on net.

The Ducks played their 13th consecutive game without Paul Kariya, sidelined by post-concussion syndrome. And again scoring chances were tough to come by.

At one point early in the final period, the Devils had outshot the Ducks, 24-12. Only a late flurry enabled the Ducks to close the gap to 28-25.

New Jersey (41-17-9) scored the only goal it would need 5:08 into the game.

The Ducks lost track of center Sergei Brylin behind the net. After moving to the left wing, Brylin slipped a pass through the crease to tough guy Krzysztof Oliwa at the right post for an easy tap-in.

Scott Niedermayer and Brian Rolston also scored for New Jersey.